Child proof medicine bottle cap

ABSTRACT

A child proof medicine bottle cap is disclosed, which cap requires rotation of a collar intermediate the bottle and the cap to release the cap.

United States atent 1 91 1111 3,5,32 MacLeod Nov, 26, 1974 [54] CHILD PROOF MEDHCINE BOTTLE CAP 3,027,034 3/1962 Christian 215/218 7 3,261,490 7/1966 McDonald 2l5/22l [76] lnvemorl Eugene Madmdg 2380 3,426,930 2/1969 Hirschler 215/221 Irvmgton Rd-,T11CS0I1, AIIZ- 85706 3,630,403 12 1971 Berg 215/218 il d g 13 3,656,646 4/1972 Taylor 215/218 [21] Appl' 388336 Primary Examiner-George, E. Lowrance Assistant ExaminerR0 E. Hart [52] 11.8. C1. 215/218, 220/39 Attorney, Agent, or FirmCahi1l, Sutton & Thomas [51] Int. Cl 865d 55/02 Field Of Search 217, 218, 57 A child proof medicine bottle cap is disclosed, which [56] R f n Cited cap requires rotation of a collar intermediate the bot- UNITED STATES PATENTS tle and the cap to release the cap. 2,487,728 11/1949 Quiring 215/217 7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures CHILD PROOF MEDICINE BOTTLE CAP The present invention is related to material previously tiled in the United States Patent Office under the document disclosure program, which material has been awarded Disclosure Document Number 019149.

The present invention relates to caps for containers and, more particularly, to child proof caps for medicine bottles.

In recent years there has been a growing concern with respect to the injuries suffered by, and the fatality rate of, children who have managed to open and ingest the contents of medicine bottles. As a result of this concern, various caps have been developed which require more than a simple rotation of the cap to separate the cap from the medicine bottle. Of the more successful child proof caps are those caps which require palming of the cap while it is being turned. The palming repositions the cap along its longitudinal axis to permit lugs within the cap to be rotated into conformance with a mating lip of the medicine bottle. These caps have been effective to some degree but once a child learns the technique for opening the cap, the cap is no longer child proof.

One of the basic failings of the known child proof bottle caps is that none of them require manual dexterity beyond the capability of most young children. That is, the prior art caps rely on technique rather than manual skill or a combination of the two to prevent a child from removing the cap.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a child proof cap for medicine bottles.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cap for medicine bottles, which cap requires a high level of manual dexterity to remove the cap from the bottle.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a three-element device for securing a cap to a container.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a three-element device for capping medicine bottles, which device requires relative movement between the elements to uncap the bottle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a locking member intermediate a threaded cap and a threaded neck of a bottle.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a frictional lock for securing a cap to a bottle.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.

The present invention may be described with greater specificity and clarity with reference to the following figures, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the present invention mounted upon a bottle.

HO. 2 illustrates an exploded view ofthe elements of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the cap release position of the elements of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates the locked position of the elements of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a medicine bottle 1, which bottle may be cylindrical, necked, rectangular, or of any other configuration. A threaded sleeve 4, which may be the neck of the bottle, extends upwardly therefrom and defines the mouth of the bottle. A threaded cap 2 is axially aligned with sleeve 4 and is secured thereto by an internally threaded collar 3.

The structural relationship between bottle 1, cap 2, and collar 3 is shown in further detail in FIG. 2. Externally threaded sleeve 4 extends upwardly from bottle 1. The upper end 8 of sleeve 4 is terminated at a bias. The amount of the bias is greater than the width of one thread, whereby the slope of end 8 is greater than the pitch of the threads 10. The threaded part of cap 2 may be a threaded stud 9 extending downwardly therefrom. The lower end 6 of stud 9 is cut at a bias, which bias is greater than one thread width whereby the slope of the end is greater than the pitch of threads 5.

Although the stud 9 is shown as being solid, it is contemplated that a cavity or recess may be disposed therein to accommodate a nipple or dropper extending from the mouth of the bottle. Internally threaded collar 3 threadedly engages both sleeves 4 and stud 9. The axial ends of collar 3 are cut normal to the longitudinal axis of the collar.

The relative axial length of the three threaded components discussed above are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The threaded portion of sleeve 10 is configured to be approximately one thread width less than the length of collar 3. The length of stud 9 is at least one thread width less than the length of collar 3. Preferably, the length of stud 9 should be less than the length of collar 3 by a width equivalent to two or more threads.

In operation, cap 2 is initially secured to bottle 1 in the following manner. Collar 3 is threaded onto sleeve 4 until it abuts bottle 1 or an annular shoulder 11 disposed about the sleeve. In this position, the end 8 of sleeve 4 is positioned beneath the upper edge of collar 3 by an amount of approximately equivalent to the pitch of thread 7. Stud 9 of cap 2 is placed in general alignment with sleeve 4. Once the sleeve 4 and stud 9 are aligned, collar 3 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction to cause it to partially disengage from sleeve 4 and engage stud 9. Because of the axial separation be tween sleeve 4 and stud 9 due to the sleeve being shorter than the threaded part of collar 3, the stud will be axially displaced from the sleeve within the collar. Rotation of collar 3 is continued until the collar approaches or abuts the lower surface 12 of cap 2.

When collar 3 is in engagement with threads 5 of stud 9 as well as threads 10 of sleeve 4, the spacing intermediate the stud and the sleeve will permit the cap to be rotated with respect to the sleeve through a predetermined angular displacement. The degree of angular displacement is dependent upon the axial spacing intermediate sleeve 4 and stud 9 within cap 3. If cap 2 is attempted to be rotated beyond the allowable angular displacement, ends 6 and 8 will contact one another because the axial displacement (pitch) due to rotation is at a lesser rate than the slope of the ends. When the two ends contact one another, a continuing rotational force upon cap 2 will cause ends 6 and 8 to force stud 9 to be axially displaced from sleeve 4 at a greater rate of axial displacement than the pitch of the threads. Ultimately, sleeve 4 and cap 2 will become frictionally locked within collar 3. This result will occur whether cap 2 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise.

If an attempt is made to rotate cap 2 and collar 3 as a unit, the axial displacement of the unit will be at a lesser rate that the slope of the bias and ends 6 and 8 will contact one another. Continuing rotation of the unit will cause the ends 6 and 8 to attempt to axially displace the unit at a greater rate than the pitch of the threads. Thus, a frictional interlock is again effected between cap 2, collar 3, and sleeve 4.

To remove cap 2 from bottle 1, the cap and the bottle must be held stationary relative to one another while collar 3 is rotated in a clockwise direction. Because cap 2 and bottle 1 do not rotate with respect to one an other, ends 6 and 8 will not come into locking frictional engagement. At or near the rotational position of collar 3 resulting in contact with bottle 1 or shoulder 11, cap

2 may be rotated in a counter clockwise direction to disengage it from collar 3. The position of collar 3 with respect to sleeve 4 whereas cap 2 may be indepen dently rotated to release it from the sleeve is dependent upon the amount of angular displacement that may be effected before end 6 contacts end 8. If the angular displacement is less than that required to disengage threads of stud 9 from threads 7 of collar 3, a frictional interlock will occur.

The functions of the threaded elements sleeve 4 and stud 9 may be reversed to that upon completion of the container opening process, both cap 2 and collar 3 are removed as a unit from container 1. Also, the direction of the threads of the components may be either left handed or right handed. The option selected for any particular application would depend upon the degree of complexity desired, and would not affect the overall principles of operation.

As may be apparent from the above description, cap 2 can be removed from bottle 1 only if the cap and the bottle are maintained non-rotating with respect to one another. Simultaneously, collar 3 must be rotated. It is believed that most children cannot fathom the technique for releasing cap 2 from bottle 1 within their interest span. It has been observed particularly that children under the age of ten do not seem to have the manual dexterity necessary to effect a release of cap 2, even after having observed the proper technique. Adults, however, even some arthritic aduts, generally seem to have no trouble learning the technique. It is therefore believed that the present invention describes a cap for medicine bottles, which cap cannot be removed by young children.

While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in an illustrative embodiment, there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications of structure, arrangement, proportions,

the elements, materials, and components, used in the practice of the invention which are particularly adapted for specific environments and operating requirements without departing from those principles.

I claim:

1. A child proof cap assembly for containers, said assembly comprising:

a. an externally threaded sleeve extending from the container and forming the mouth of the container, the extremity of said sleeve being terminated at a bias;

b. a cap having an externally threaded stud extending therefrom, the extremity of said stud being terminated at a bias;

c. an internally threaded collar for engaging said sleeve and said stud to retain said sleeve and said stud in axial alignment with one another and limit axial displacement between said sleeve and said stud; whereby said collar forces engagement between the biased extremity of said sleeve with the biased extremity of said stud as a result of independent rotation of said cap with respect to said sleeve, which engagement causes a frictional interlock between said stud and said sleeve to prevent removal of said cap from the container.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bias at the extremity of said sleeve is greater than the pitch of the threads of said sleeve.

3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the bias at the extremity of said stud is greater than the pitch of the threads of said stud.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the axial length of the threaded part of said sleeve is less than the axial length of said collar.

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the difference in axial length between the threaded part of said sleeve and said collar is at least equal to the pitch of the threads of said sleeve.

6. The combination as set forth in claim 5 including a shoulder disposed upon the container in proximity to said sleeve for limiting the axial engagement of said collar with said sleeve.

7. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the axial length of said stud is less than the axial length of said collar, whereby said collar cannot be in engagement with said stud without also engaging said sleeve. l l 

1. A child proof cap assembly for containers, said assembly comprising: a. an externally threaded sleeve extending from the container and forming the mouth of the container, the extremity of said sleeve being terminated at a bias; b. a cap having an externally threaded stud extending therefrom, the extremity of said stud being terminated at a bias; c. an internally threaded collar for engaging said sleeve and said stud to retain said sleeve and said stud in axial alignment with one another and limit axial displacement between said sleeve and said stud; whereby said collar forces engagement between the biased extremity of said sleeve with the biased extremity of said stud as a result of independent rotation of said cap with respect to said sleeve, which engagement causes a frictional interlock between said stud and said sleeve to prevent removal of said cap from the container.
 2. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bias at the extremity of said sleeve is greater than the pitch of the threads of said sleeve.
 3. The combination as set forth in claim 2 wherein the bias at the extremity of said stud is greater than the pitch of the threads of said stud.
 4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the axial length of the threaded part of said sleeve is less than the axial length of said collar.
 5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the difference in axial length between the threaded part of said sleeve and said collar is at least equal to the pitch of the threads of said sleeve.
 6. The combination as set forth in claim 5 including a shoulder disposed upon the container in proximity to said sleeve for limiting the axial engagement of said collar with said sleeve.
 7. The combination as set forth in claim 4 wherein the axial length of said stud is less than the axial length of said collar, whereby said collar cannot be in engagement with said stud without also engaging said sleeve. 